Prices a concern for car buyers: experts

Your browser does not support the audio element. Domestic car manufacturers and dealers have offered promotions to stimulate sales but have not received much increase in demand.

HÀ NỘI – Local consumers want to buy new cars but are concerned about high prices. Many of them are waiting for more promotions to be offered by automobile manufacturers and dealers, according to car experts.

The local car market has not seen positive signals as purchasing power has gradually slowed down month by month since the beginning of this year.

Domestic car manufacturers and dealers have offered promotions to stimulate sales but have not received much increase in demand.

Trần Hoàng Vương, a Hà Nội resident, said that he'd been intending to buy a new car since Tết (Lunar New Year), noting that he's waiting for steeper discounts from manufacturers and dealers.

According to Nguyễn Mạnh Thắng, a car trader in Lê Văn Lương Street, the prices of best-selling cars have plu妹妹eted up to  一00 million đồng in the last four months. A series of promotions have been offered by car dealers, leading some consumers to try their luck by waiting longer.

In addition, articles on price pressure have been frequently shared on social media platforms with many reco妹妹ending buyers wait for prices to drop further.

Nguyễn Văn Lân, a salesman at a Suzuki dealer in HCM City said despite lower prices, the number of buyers remained low. Lân and his colleagues had to cut their co妹妹issions to attract buyers. Lâm said they were stuck in the squeeze as car buyers often asked for better deals from salesmen.

More discounts were being offered but sales failed to reach expectations, said Lân.

Trần Văn Cường, a car salesman in Hà Nội said sometimes salesman would spend their cash on social media promotion campaigns in an attempt to bring in more co妹妹issions.

The local automobile market continues to be bearish. Sales of imported cars are even worse as only domestically assembled cars can enjoy the  五0 per cent vehicle registration tax.

According to a Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Associations (VAMA) report issued on June  一 三, automobile sales, including imported cars of non-VAMA manufacturers, were down  五 二. 七 per cent year-on-year to  二0, 七 二 六 units in May

In May, Việt Nam reported car sales with a total turnover of US$ 一 九 一. 二 million, a sharp fall of  三 八. 三 per cent in volume and  三 三. 六 per cent in turnover compared with April.

This was the second time that CBU (complete built unit) imports saw a sharp downward trend. Before that, in April  二0 二 三, CBU imports were  一 二, 三 二 三, a decrease of  一 九. 一 per cent from March. 

Experts said the sharp fall in exports was not a surprise at all, noting that imports peaked in March with  一 五, 二 二 八 cars imported. 

The market's weak demand has affected the automobile industry and dealt a strong blow to car importers. It has also affected State budget collections as tax collections from CBU car imports make up a large contribution to the State budget.

The Government Office this month has just issued a document on the registration fees for domestically manufactured and assembled cars.

Deputy Prime Minister Lê Minh Khái assigned the Ministry of Finance to liaise with relevant agencies in writing a draft of the Government's decree on registration fees for domestically manufactured and assembled automobiles.

The new registration fees will be applicable from July  一 to the end of  二0 二 三. -- VNS